


Strawberry Cheesecake

by stereophoenix



Category: In the Flesh (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Fluff, Genderswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 11:53:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2811062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stereophoenix/pseuds/stereophoenix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coffee Shop!AU one-shot I threw together as a Christmas present for a friend. Slightly inspired by a Bubbline comic going around the web somewhere. Enjoy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strawberry Cheesecake

The Irish girl in the oversized coat came in every Friday at four o'clock. She stayed for no longer than half an hour, paid her bill at the beginning in exact change and then left just as the clock hit half four. She ordered the strawberry cheesecake and a cup of coffee every time, and every time she only ate the two glazed strawberries on top and drank half her coffee. Every Friday, Kiera had to throw away another slice of cheesecake.

It wasn't that Kiera had been keeping a record in a notebook or anything, but she did notice it the longer the habit went on. She'd been working at Linda's for only a few months when it had started, and now almost six months had passed and still the girl came, taking the same seat next to the window and wearing the same goddamn coat, even in summer. Not that summer meant much in Roarton.

And she couldn't really say why it bothered her so much, because in the end she was only a part time employee and there were plenty of other people who turned up regularly and Kiera didn't take any notice of them. But every Friday, every "Hello, can I help you?" "I'll have the usual. Here's the cash." "Of course." that went by, seemed to dig a little further into her patience.

One time, she mentioned it to Andy on one of their day trips, and immediately regretted it.

"So, a gorgeous girl comes into your shop and orders your best creation every week, and you're complaining about this?" Andy laughed, kicking some leaves out of the trail. They were in the woods this time, and Andy had bundled himself up in a huge red coat and long stripy scarf even though it was only October. Kiera was making do with a jacket and a beanie.

"I'm not complaining, I'm just saying," she replied indignantly. "And I never said she was gorgeous."

"Uh, hello? Your description of her was way to detailed for you to not have been staring at her longingly, Kiera Walker."

"I work in a coffee shop, Andy, I don't have time to stare at people."

"Then how come you have time to remember this girl?" Andy pointed out, reaching up to swing from a branch. "I think you've got a _crush_."

If Kiera had still had blood circulation she probably would have blushed at that, but luckily her cover-up mousse hid the embarrassment and she satisfied herself by throwing some leaves at him. Andy retaliated, and then the war started and they didn't talk anymore about the girl.

But later on, one thing Andy had said stuck in her mind, and as she considered it it started to make more and more sense. It was, of course, the goddamn cheesecake.

Kiera had made a cake in the second week she'd worked for Linda, and as soon as the manager took a bite of the slice Kiera had brought in as a thank you present she'd been desperate to get Kiera to sell it.

"Please, Kiera, darling, this is wonderful!" Linda squealed, her blonde curls bouncing. "I'm looking for some good cakes to start selling here, and you just have to let me use it! I'll share you in the profits! Please say yes?"

Kiera had nothing to do in the evenings, so she'd agreed, and that was how she found herself making a whole cheesecake every Monday, Thursday and Friday evening before her shifts the next day. She didn't mind - she made a damn good cheesecake, and the profits were better than the nothing the Give Back Scheme had been giving her, despite small. But obviously the deal wasn't good enough for some.

After Andy had pointed it out, it started grating on her more, especially every time she had to cut a piece of the cake and put it on the plate to give to the girl, knowing it would be thrown away later. She started imagining confronting her about it, slamming down an empty plate and saying, "Here's your food, ma'am, and as you can see I've taken the liberty of throwing it away before you don't eat it." Her annoyance was fuelled into every cake she made, and even Linda commented the creamy strawberry layer was distinctly smoother than usual.

Two months later, in the second week of December, Kiera finally decided to do something.

On Friday morning, she put on her battle gear - blue tshirt, blue plaid shirt, black skirt and tights and combat boots, before picking up the tin of cheesecake and saying bye to Jed. At work, she added the stupid orange bib with its pretentious logo _"I'm PDS and I'm giving back"_ , and then her day was filled with orders and kettles and teabags until half past three, when the nervous taste in her mouth finally got too strong for her to focus. She took a break and sat in the back room, at the perfect angle to see the front door open.

She waited.

Four o'clock came...and went. Four fifteen. Four twenty five. Linda pushed Kiera out of the back room and behind the counter again, so she had no choice but to work and watch the empty seat by the window stay empty as four thirty approached. She couldn't pretend she wasn't worried, and a couple of the customers noted her miserable atmosphere, but Kiera just carried on serving them and looking at the window half-heartedly. As the clock hand crept closer to five o'clock, she gave up on the looking.

There was a quiet lull just after five, with only one other customer in, and Kiera was mopping the floor in preparation to close up in half an hour when the bell chimed and and someone swept past to her the window seat. Kiera jumped, apologised, and then saw the familiar green coat sitting in the chair. The bitter nervousness was in her mouth again.

She hurried to lean her mop against the wall then approached the girl tentatively. "Hello, can I help you?"

Usually, the girl watched her closely, pale green eyes looking Kiera up and down until she felt like an open book. But today, the girl didn't even look up from the pin badge she was twisting through her fingers, and all Kiera got was the swish of her black hair as she tucked the short strands behind one ear.

"I'll have the usual. Here's the cash." The long pale fingers pushed the money over to her, still not looking up, and something in that casual dismissal make something hot and angry flare up in Kiera. She put the paper pad down on top of the money, on top of the girl's fingers, and that made her look up.

"Look, I appreciate that you probably enjoy coming to this shop and its a regular thing for you, but I work really hard to make that strawberry cheesecake every night before my shift and everyone else seems to think it's good enough to eat, and I don't see what I can do to make you eat it because otherwise I have to throw it away every week and it's really rude and I just think you should order something you really want otherwise I'm not going to serve you," she rushed out in one breath, voice sharp and cutting with anger.

The girl was still the whole time, staring at her, and she stayed still a few moments longer after Kiera finished, mouth slightly open and her perfectly curved dark brows widened. The two of them had been staring for a while when the girl grinned, and dropped the pin badge onto the table.

"Oh, honey," she purred, accent smooth as ever. "I'm just PDS. I don't eat."

Now it was Kiera's mouth that dropped open a little, and she felt the ghost of a blush over her cheeks as the anger in her was replaced with embarrassment. "Then...why do you order the cheesecake?"

"I just want an excuse to see you every week," the girl smirked.

Kiera resisted the squeaking sound that tried to escape from her mouth, nodded quickly, then hurried back to the counter, counting her lucky stars again that she couldn't blush. She rushed into the back room, ignoring Linda's questions, then curled up on a chair, arms around her knees and breathing heavily. Her skin was buzzing, like an electric shock, but the good kind, the kind she used to get when she was around Ricky. _I just want an excuse to see you every week._

After a few minutes, she realised she still hadn't given to girl her cheesecake, or taken her money, or even picked up her pad from where she'd put it down on the table. Well, she couldn't go back out there now; she couldn't face that smirk again, not for another day at least, so she convinced one of other PDS volunteers to take the cake out and carried on...waiting in the back. Not hiding.

In another ten minutes, Linda found her again, and this time she was adamant. "Darling, I don't know what's gotten into you today but if you don't get onto that floor in five seconds-"

"Sorry, sorry," Kiera apologised, backing out quickly. Her mop was still leaning against the wall, and as she grabbed it she couldn't resist glancing over a the window table, expecting to see the girl watching her again, or more likely, staring out of the window like always. Kiera couldn't decide which one she'd rather have.

As it turned out, it was niether.

Confused and slightly disappointed, Kiera walked over to the table, but the girl had gone. All that was left was the smell of her perfume and the pin badge, claiming to be called Simone, resting in the middle of the plate.

The empty, crumb-littered plate.


End file.
